Brainy's Homecoming
by Eileen
Summary: Post-Dark Victory. Brainy has been gone for a year when, out of the blue, he asks the Legion for help. Abandoned, sick, and alone, he reaches out to the only home he has left.
1. Sick Call

When the aircab let them off, Lightning Lad had to check twice to make sure they were at the right address

Brainy's Homecoming

Chapter 1: Sick Call

_(Disclaimer: All characters and situations are the property of DC Comics.)_

* * *

When the aircab let them off, Lightning Lad had to check twice to make sure they were at the right address. "**This** is the Asimov Arms Hotel? It's a total dive!"  
"This is the address Brainy gave us," Saturn Girl said, checking her data pad.  
"What's Brainy doing in a dump like this?"  
"Why don't we ask him that?"  
They went inside. The Asimov Arms looked as if it had been a pretty fashionable address . . . thirty or forty years ago. Now it was run-down and dingy, and nothing worked.

The misshapen blue form behind the front desk didn't even look up from his comm box as they approached. "You got two days to pay me what you owe, or you're outta here! This is your last warning!"  
"Excuse me--" Lightning Lad began.  
"Fifty credits an hour," the landlord said, "two hundred for the whole night. Payable in advance."  
"We're not here about a room," Saturn Girl said.  
"Then quit wasting my time. I got work to do."  
"We're meeting someone. Can you tell me where I can find Querl Dox?"  
The being looked up, a puzzled expression on what could loosely be called his face. "Dox . . . Dox . . . oh, you mean the green kid! Room 212. Take the stairs to the fourth floor."  
"Isn't there an elevator?"  
"It's outta order."  
"Why is room 212 on the fourth floor?" Lightning Lad asked.  
"Because it is. Now scram, I'm busy here."

Something was _not_ adding up here.

Behind Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy looked around and grimaced. "This place is so low-rent, the cockroaches won't come here. There's no way Brainy would ever end up here if he had . . ."  
"Any other choice?" Saturn Girl finished for him. "We won't know what he's up to until we ask him."

Just then they heard a door open. They all turned and saw . . . some slimy squelchy thing leaving the room of a woman who seemed to have taken advantage of the all-night deal.

"I really didn't need to see that." Lightning Lad groaned.

"Did anyone notice the number on the door?" Saturn Girl asked.  
"Between the slime creature and the . . . scantily dressed lady, I missed it," Bouncing Boy confessed.

Lightning Lad rolled his eyes. "Not that we can see any numbers on these doors anyway, underneath all the grime. When did they last clean here, 2958?"  
"We'll try down this way." Saturn Girl started to say before a loud BANG! distracted her.

Someone had thrown a bottle through an open doorway and it smashed against the far wall.  
"Nice place here, huh?" Lightning Lad was feeling less and less comfortable by the minute.

By the time they finally got to Brainy's room, all the three of them wanted was just to get out as soon as possible. But that would depend on Brainy and what he had to say to them.

* * *

As for Brainy himself, he was lying on what passed for a bed in this place, having passed out, not from any illicit substances, but from simple exhaustion. Not having eaten for three days didn't help matters any.

He was roused by a knock on his door.  
"I'm paid till the end of the week!" he called out, in a voice that didn't sound like his own. "Go away!"

"It's us, Brainy!" said Saturn Girl.  
Brainy tried to get up to let them in, but he barely had the strength to roll over. "It's not locked!" he called out. "Come on in."

"About time." said Lightning Lad under his breath.

Saturn Girl shot him a look. "You're not helping," she said. "Brainy's in some kind of trouble . . ."

'Trouble' was an understatement.

"What happened?" Bouncing Boy asked. "How did you end up here? What do we need to do to help?"

Brainy tried to talk, but he couldn't express to the others how hard the last year had been on him. No matter where he went, he couldn't find a place to settle, a place where he belonged. In the end, he had parked his new human body in the cheapest place he could find.  
And then . . .  
Brainy spoke so low that none of them caught it. "What was that?"  
"My mother was here," he repeated.

"I didn't know you **had** a mother," Lightning Lad said. "You didn't want to see her that time we visited your home planet . . ."  
"We didn't part on good terms. I didn't want to get into the whole thing all over again. I don't know how she found me, but . . . she came here, and . . ." He couldn't finish.

"Did she hurt you?" Saturn Girl asked.  
"Not like that," Brainy said quietly. "She said . . . it was decided, that I can never come back to Colu."  
"Oh, man." This did not sit well with the other Legion members.

"It was different when I left, on my own," he explained. "I knew I always had the option of going back, if I had to, or wanted to. Now I don't have that option any more."

Brainy looked like he'd lost his best friend . . .

Saturn Girl sat on the bed beside him and started to put an arm around him before she remembered that Brainy didn't like being touched.  
"It's okay," he said. "I don't mind anymore." In truth, he felt a need to connect with another living being, something that he'd never felt before. He'd been alone since he left Colu, but he'd never been **lonely. **The Legion was his only family now; if they too rejected him, then there truly was nothing left for him.

"I want to go home," he murmured, and leaned into Saturn Girl's comforting warmth.

"It's okay, Brainy," she said. "We'll take you out of here. You can't stay in this horrible place. I don't know how you lasted this long . . ."

Bouncing Boy had his pocket handkerchief out and was rubbing at something on Brainy's face. "Buddy, you've got dirt all over you. It almost looks like you've got Rigellian spotted fever--"

"That's because he does." Lightning Lad was holding a portable medi-scanner.

The room went suddenly quiet. Bouncing Boy swallowed and jerked his hand away; spotted fever was supposed to be very contagious.

"Oh, Brainy," Saturn Girl sighed. "How long have you been sick?"

"I don't know. I haven't been sleeping well for about a week . . . I haven't had anything to eat for almost three days . . . it hurts when I swallow."

Lightning Lad was checking a list of symptoms. "Yeah, that's on there. Does your head hurt?"

Brainy nodded. "Pretty skraking bad, too. What else can I expect?"

"I won't bore you with the whole list. It sounds worse than it is, anyway. Don't worry, we'll take good care of you."

Saturn Girl was shaking her head. "I think we should take him to a hospital. He's in really bad shape . . ."

That was an understatement and a half. Between the dull throb in his head, the churning in his stomach, and the persistent fever, Brainy felt like something the Arcturan swampcat had dragged in. Then dragged out again. Then dragged in a second time and stomped on, chewed up, and spit out.

"We have state of the art medical facilities!" Lightning Lad was saying. "He'll be fine!"

"I'd just feel better if he were in the hands of professionals," Saturn Girl countered.

Bouncing Boy nervously fidgeted with his Legion flight ring, wondering how much exposure it took to become infected. Would they all have to be quarantined? What if they were already infected?

"C'mon, Chuck," Lightning Lad said. "The transport will be here any minute."

"What transport?"

"While you were busy panicking, I called Legion HQ and arranged for a pickup. They said it would wait for us out front."

Saturn Girl was trying to help Brainy up, but he was too weak to stand. "Guys, I think we may need a floater."

"There'll probably be one in the groundcar. Let's just head for the elevator."

"There **is** no elevator," Brainy said. "It's been out of order since I've been here. They never fix anything around here." He rolled over on his side and managed to lever himself to a sitting position.

"We're getting you out," Saturn Girl said. She took one side, and Lightning Lad took the other, and between the two of them they managed to lift him off the bed and onto his feet. With their support, Brainy was able to walk across the room, out the door, and into the hallway.

_I never liked it here anyway,_ he thought. _Good riddance._

* * *

The transport was waiting right where it was supposed to be, but to their surprise, it was unmanned.

"Nobody's driving this thing?" Bouncing Boy asked nervously.

"They said they couldn't spare the people," Lightning Lad explained. "Phantom Girl was . . . kinda evasive about that."

"If there were something going on," asked Saturn Girl, "wouldn't she tell us?"

"We'll find out soon enough. We're almost there."

As soon as the car came to a stop outside the HQ, Bouncing Boy and Lightning Lad loaded Brainy onto the floater and went inside.

It was too quiet.

"Where is everyone?" Saturn Girl asked.

"Probably out on missions," Lightning Lad said. "Let's just take Brainy to the infirmary, and then we can find out what's going on."

They guided the floater down the corridor; luckily, it wasn't far to the infirmary. The doors whooshed open--

"Guys," Bouncing Boy said, "I think we have a problem."


	2. Virus Alert

Brainy's Homecoming

Chapter 2: Virus Alert

"Guys," Bouncing Boy said, "I think we have a problem."

The infirmary was already full.

Every bed, cot, and cryo-chamber was already occupied. It seemed the entire Legion had contracted the same virus that Brainy had.

"What is going **on** here?" Lightning Lad demanded.

"We just left a couple of hours ago!" Bouncing Boy exclaimed. "Everyone was fine then!"

"This came on all of a sudden," Phantom Girl explained. "And I thought everyone **had **their shots!"

"Where can we put Brainy?" Saturn Girl asked. "It looks like there aren't any empty beds."

"There aren't," said Timber Wolf. "I'll go see if we have an extra cot. Put him in the chair there for now."

Lightning Lad and Bouncing Boy lifted Brainy up and carried him to the chair, setting him down gently. "Who have we got left?" Lightning Lad asked.

Triplicate Girl checked a data pad. "We've still got two teams out on missions. A few on leave that could be recalled if we had to."

"We need to quarantine this place right away--"

"Done. The automatic alert system will let those out in the field know if they're needed here. We can focus on our patients."

Lightning Lad looked down the row of beds. "Cos? I thought you **had **spotted fever when you were a kid!"

"I thought I did, too," Cosmic Boy admitted, "but it was actually speckled fever. Similar, but doesn't carry the same immunities."

"That bites."

"Go to the diagnostic area," Trip advised Lightning Lad. "We need to get your group checked out."

"It's okay. I know I had spotted fever. I had everything, thanks to my brother. He didn't mind sharing when it came to germs."

"Start with Brainy," Saturn Girl advised. "We need to start him on some kind of treatment as soon as possible."

Phantom Girl brought over a portable diagnostic unit and started hooking Brainy up to its sensors. Instantly, the readings jumped into the stratosphere fast enough to make Phantom Girl jump. "What the--? Why is his temperature so high all of a sudden? Is this normal?"

"We don't know **what's **normal for him," Saturn Girl said. "Brainy is . . . unique. Norm--other Coluans don't get sick, so we have nothing to compare it with. For that matter," she continued, "we all have slightly different physiologies, coming from different worlds. All we can do is try to treat the symptoms, and keep them comfortable."

"Easy for you to say," Element Lad groaned. "Your head's not about to explode." He looked like death warmed over--twice. And he was far from the worst case. At least eight other Legion members were ill enough to be classified as critically infected. While spotted fever was not known to be particularly fatal, and usually only lasted a few days, everyone would need attention and care, and there just weren't enough healthy people to do it.

Brainy was sick enough to need an entire solar system's worth of medical care, but there was nothing they could do beyond checking on him as often as possible and treating the symptoms with what medicines they had.

While Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl took turns looking after the most serious cases, Bouncing Boy was in the diagnostic area, getting checked out.

_Oh, I hope I don't have it_, he thought. _I don't look good in spots. Besides, I can't get sick now! What if there's an attack or something, and there aren't enough of us to handle it? All of New Metropolis could be--_

"You okay, Chuck?" Triplicate Girl asked, coming up behind him.

"AAAAHHH!" He jumped, making the readings go offline for a moment, then settled down when he realized it was her. "What?"

"I said, are you okay?"

"Why? Do I not look okay? Are there spots? Please tell me I don't have spots!" He twisted around, trying to see his reflection in the machine's metal sides, and once again the readings went offline.

"Why don't you just sit down and relax before you crash this thing?"

"Relax? How am I supposed to relax? We have a crisis situation here! If we lose anyone else, we won't have enough people to protect the city if there's an alien invasion or something!"

She giggled a bit in spite of herself. "Calm down, BB. Everything's fine. The Subs are handling the regular patrols, and their last report said all was quiet around here. Stop worrying and sit still. I think you wiped out the test results with all your jumping around, and now we'll have to do it again."

Glumly, Bouncing Boy sat back and watched as she set everything up again. He tried not to think of the worst that could happen, but it was impossible to keep the worries out of his mind.

Lightning Lad was taking care of the least serious cases, fetching drinks and sharing words of encouragement. He remembered all too well what it was like to be sick and helpless, waiting for the achy, uncomfortable feeling to just go away. Anything he could do to help, he gladly did for his friends.

The two mission teams checked in.

"What do you **mean**, quarantine?" Sun Boy demanded. "When did this happen?"

"A few hours ago," Trip explained. "You'll have to remain in the hangar until the danger passes."

"It's that bad?"

"Have you ever **had** Rigellian spotted fever?"

"Well, no . . . is that what the problem is?"

"Is it ever! We may have to send a distress signal to the United Planets Emergency Medical Services, if things don't improve soon. If anyone can find the time to send it. We're all tied up taking care of all these sick people, and it's just getting worse."

Sun Boy looked worried at this. "What's happened now?"

"It would take too long to explain, so I'll just tell you: Brainy's back."

"He is? Since when?"

"Since just a little while ago."

"Shouldn't we have taken a vote on this before just letting him back in like nothing happened?" Sun Boy grumbled.

"There wasn't time! He was too sick to be just left where he was! We can vote on whether or not to let him stay once the crisis has passed. Till then . . . he needs our help."

"Okay," Sun Boy admitted. "But he's not allowed access to any confidential files or equipment until the vote."

"Who died and made **you** leader?" snapped Bouncing Boy. "Last time I checked, it was still Saturn Girl."

Sun Boy flinched back and switched off the monitor, without further comment. He went back to his patrol ship and gave the others the news.

The other team, led by Dawnstar, was more cooperative, agreeing to wait out the epidemic at the backup HQ across town. "We'll keep an eye on things from here," she said, "although it seems pretty quiet so far."

"Why do those sound like famous last words?" Triplicate Girl asked.

LLLLLLLLLL

Bouncing Boy checked out fine, but Lightning Lad was not so lucky.

"But I already **had** spotted fever!" he protested.

"Yes, you did. Unfortunately, you're not immune to ordinary flu." Saturn Girl helped him up to his room and tucked him in. "I'll check on you as often as I can. In the meantime, I suggest you get some rest."

Lightning Lad opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. Saturn Girl picked up the thought anyway.

"Yes, I know you feel you should be down there helping out, but you won't be any help to anyone unless you give yourself time to get better. I'll be back in a little while with your medicine. Just stay put and don't argue."

"I'm not arguing."

"You were about to."

"But I didn't!"

"But you wanted to."

"Listen to the two of you. You'd think you were married already." Phantom Girl stood in the doorway, watching them banter back and forth. "If you're done bickering now, we need to do Saturn Girl's examination. You're the last one who hasn't been checked."

"I'll be right there. I just want to make sure Lightning Lad doesn't need anything for a while."

He gave her a pleading look. "I could use a glass of juice . . ."

Phantom Girl shook her head. "Everyone who isn't sick is busy taking care of those who are. I'll see what I can do, but it might be a while. Saturn Girl, I'll meet you downstairs?"

"I'm coming." She smoothed the sheets and asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I don't know . . . maybe a nice long backrub?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe later. I'll be back just as soon as I've finished my tests. Don't go anywhere."

Lightning Lad shook his head. "I don't think I could even get out of bed right now. I'll be here."

"Okay." She turned and left the room, catching up with Phantom Girl out in the hall.

She thought she'd be right back, but due to what turned up in her examination, it would be a long time before she would be able to even come near him again.

LLLLLLLLLL

Brainy felt something cool and damp on his forehead, and he opened his eyes to see Shrinking Violet leaning over him.

"Hi, Violet," he said.

Her squeal nearly made his head explode. "Brainy, you're back!"

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm glad you're not infected, Violet. How's the rest of the team?"

Violet wrung out the cloth she'd been using to wipe Brainy's forehead. "Not good," she sighed. "We have only a handful of people left to deal with this mess **and **the regular patrols. If something really big happens . . . we might not have enough people to cover it."

"What about the reserves?"

"The reserves have their hands full. The Fatal Five broke out of prison again."

"That doesn't count as something big?"

"I mean besides this."

"Who's on it?"

"A handful of reserves and trainees. If things get any worse, we may have to call back some of the applicants we rejected at the last tryouts."

"Were there a lot?"

"Let me put it this way: the best prospect out of that bunch was the guy whose arms fell off."

"And?"

"And what?"

"His arms fall off, and then what?"

"That's it."

"Nobody else?"

"Not unless we need someone who can imitate animal noises, or duplicate non-living objects smaller than a marble."

"That might actually be useful," Brainy said. "Maybe you should have them on standby."

"I'm hoping it won't come to that," Violet groaned. "Now, what's safe for me to give you, medication-wise?"

Brainy shook his head. "I don't know. No Coluan has ever been ill before."

"Do you think these will be okay?" She held out the label for him to read, but his head was pounding so hard he had trouble focusing.

"Do it," he said. "It can't hurt me any worse."

Violet shook out two of the small green pills and handed them to Brainy, who swallowed them without so much as a drop of water. To his immense relief, they seemed to work right away. He felt so much better now . . . maybe he could even get some sleep now.

"I'll just leave you, then," Violet said, turning on the bedside alert system that would warn her of any change in his condition. She then left the room, letting Brainy rest on his own.

LLLLLLLLLL

Bouncing Boy had his hands full trying to take care of his fellow Legionnaires all at once. He was one of the few left who weren't sick, and he worried constantly that he would be the next one in a bed, leaving only the medical droids to look after the multitude of patients.

Saturn Girl made the rounds, trying to reassure the sick that they would get better soon, and it was taking its toll on her. She was starting to feel very tired, and a bit queasy, but there was no time to stop and rest. The sick had to be cared for.

She was about to go check on Cosmic Boy when the nausea that had been threatening suddenly overcame her. She rushed to the bathroom, barely making it in time.

_No_, she thought, as she slumped onto the floor. _I can't be getting sick, I can't . . ._

"Saturn Girl?" Bouncing Boy had found her and was looking on with horror. "Oh, no, not you too!"

"Help me," she moaned.

_That's it_, Bouncing Boy thought. _It's all over now. If Saturn Girl's sick, we're done for!_

"Will you stop panicking?" Phantom Girl said. "Help me get her onto a floater."

"What do we do now?" he asked. "If Saturn Girl has spotted fever now--"

"She doesn't have spotted fever," Phantom Girl said.

"Well, what, then?"

She told him.

It was all too much for Bouncing Boy, who passed out.

_

* * *

_

_Author's Note: Yes, I know, evil cliffhanger once again! I'm working hard on the next chapter, though, and it will be up hopefully soon! Thanks for reading!_


	3. Good Help is Hard to Find

CHAPTER 3: GOOD HELP IS HARD TO FIND

Spotted fever was not usually a life-threatening disease. Most of those afflicted recovered within three to five days. However, no Coluan had ever had spotted fever before; there was no data on when Brainy could expect to get better.

Still, it wasn't like he was going to die from it, Violet thought as she came to check on him again. Then she took another look at his temperature, and nearly fell over in shock. Was it **possible **for a being to have a fever that high?

"What's wrong, Vi?" Phantom Girl said.

"Brainy's getting worse. His temperature's spiked up like you wouldn't believe, all of a sudden. His breathing's not too good, either."

"What about his stomach?"

"It's like a volcanic eruption . . . I'm really worried about him. What if he . . . what if . . ." She couldn't finish the sentence.

"I think it's time to call in the professionals," Phantom Girl said. "Saturn Girl's sick now, too."

"But she never gets sick! Is it spotted fever?"

"No, it's--"

"What?"

They were interrupted by an urgent message from one of the substitute teams.

"_Um, hello? Is anyone there? We've lost our sensor thingies and we don't know how to fix them!"_

"Sensor thingies?" Phantom Girl rolled her eyes. "Who is this?"

"_Could you send help? We're kind of stuck."_

"Yeah, whatever." She noted the caller's location before logging off. "We don't **have **help, do we?"

"Maybe we do." Violet called up her personal address book on her communicator. "I have a friend who works as a starship engineer."

"An engineer?"

"Well, he's not Chief Engineer. More like an assistant. But it's all we've got. If I can get a call through to him, maybe he can help."

It took her only a moment to contact the ship where her friend was stationed. She asked to speak to him directly.

"One moment, please," said the communications officer, who then patched Violet through to Engineering. After a few minutes, a familiar face appeared on the screen.

"_Salu? Is that you?"_

"Hi, Rigby. Listen, we've got an emergency here, and we could use your help getting our reserve team's sensors back online--"

"_How bad is it?"_

"I'm not sure. They're not really . . . tech-savvy. I could get them to describe it for you, and you could relay some instructions to me so I can tell them what to do."

"_Fine. Call me back when you've linked up to them, and I'll see what I can do."_

"I'm not taking you away from anything important, am I?"

"_Oh, no. Just routine inspections. Kind of boring, actually. I'm glad of the break."_

"I wouldn't bother you, except that our tech expert is . . . out sick right now . . ."

"_Say no more. I'll be standing by for your transmission. Signing off."_

Once the connection was terminated, Violet tried to contact the substitute team that had sent the distress call, but she couldn't get through. Either they had gone out of range, or else they'd accidentally shut down the communicator somehow. Maybe she wasn't using the right frequency. She tried to find the appropriate bandwidth several times, without any luck.

Just as she was about to give up, they called her.

"_Vi?"_

"Oh, hi, guys. What's the situation?"

"_I think the thingie has stopped going plooioioioioing--"_

"The **what** is **what**?"

"_You know, that thing that got broken when we were doing that . . . stuff."_

She really needed Brainy for this. He would have figured out what they were talking about in an instant. But right now Brainy wasn't even conscious, let alone coherent. She was on her own.

_Wonderful, _she thought, and got up to check her messages. There were two: the first was from Bouncing Boy, who told her Brainy was awake and asking for her to bring him some juice.

"Can't you do it?" she asked. "I'm a little busy here."

"_I think he wants to see you. He specifically asked for you by name."_

Violet sighed. "All right, I'll be down in a few minutes."

She tapped off and checked the second message. It was from her engineer friend, Rigby, who had some ideas on how to repair the damaged systems. In plain and simple language, he laid out what to look for and how to fix it. Everything seemed in order.

She transmitted the information to the Subs and then went to see Brainy.

LLLLLLLLLL

Meanwhile, Phantom Girl was looking in on Saturn Girl, who was just waking up and had no idea what was going on.

"Is . . . is everything all right up there?"

"Not exactly. One of our reserve teams is having trouble with their equipment, and they don't know how to fix it. We think we sent them the right info on the repair job, but they haven't reported back yet. Plus the Fatal Five are still on the loose--or should I say, the Fatal **Four.**"

"Four?"

"We don't know where Emerald Empress is. She may be using the rest of the team as a distraction while she's off doing her own thing. Team One is out looking for her, while Team Two is dealing with the main problem. I hope they can do it."

"I hope so, too." Imra sat up and looked around her. "Where am I?"

"We had to put you in isolation because of your, um, condition."

"What condition?"

"You've got the same flu that Garth has."

"Oh." That didn't sound so bad.

"And you're pregnant."

Saturn Girl blinked, but didn't seem overly surprised. In fact, she'd suspected as much ever since she felt the awakening of a tiny mind deep within her. "How's Garth doing?"

"He's in the medical bay. When, um . . . when did you want to tell him?"

"Now would be good." She started to get up, and Tinya rushed to stop her.

"No! You need to stay here and rest. At least for a few days. If you don't, you could make yourself worse, and that's not good for anyone."

Saturn Girl paused in her tracks and said, "I guess you're right."

"Do you need anything? Food, drink, medicine, a change of clothes?" Violet asked her.

"No, I'm fine for now. How's Brainy?"

"Not good. I think we're going to have to call in the professionals if he doesn't start getting better soon."

"Is he awake?"

"Off and on. He's in such a bad way, I don't think he knows what to do with himself. He's never been sick before."

"Maybe I can help."

"Bad idea," Phantom Girl said. "You'll use up too much of your own energy, and get worse yourself. We'll handle it."

With that, they all went to see how Brainy was doing. He looked like death warmed over--and felt like it, too.

Not having any frame of reference where illness was concerned, he had no idea how serious this was. Everything hurt like he had been run over by a heavy transport ship, his eyes were like miniature coals burning holes in his skull, his skin felt hot, and he was soooooo tired! What did it all mean?

His computer brain could have easily come up with a diagnosis and suggested a treatment plan within moments, but . . . it was different now. His brain was barely functioning at a level anywhere near his usual cognitive abilities. If this was what being sick was like, he never wanted to get sick again.

"Brainy?"

"Huh?" His eyes had trouble focusing on anything, because his headache was so bad.

"It's me," said Bouncing Boy, "just checking up on you. Are you okay?"

"I do not think that I could feel anywhere approximating OK," Brainy answered without a trace of irony. "In fact, I would be more likely to classify my physical state as . . ." He trailed off as he realized he was being unnecessarily technical. "I am in no immediate danger," he said, "though I do feel very uncomfortable."

"How? What hurts, and how bad?"

"I have a serious headache, a sore throat, several aches and pains all over my body, and my eyes feel like they are on fire," Brainy enumerated. "Not to mention the nausea that refuses to go away."

"Yep, sounds like you've got a pretty serious case of spotted fever, all right. Don't worry, it's usually not fatal."

"**Usually?"**

"Well . . . there have been a few cases that didn't end well. Rare, rare cases, in people who weren't in too good condition to begin with. Most of the time, it clears right up in a few days. But . . . we're not sure what'll happen to you, because . . ."

"Because I'm not exactly a typical case," Brainy finished for him. "I'm . . . unique, in the annals of medical history. I hope that my internal systems are not seriously compromised by this virus."

_You and me both, _thought Bouncing Boy. The last thing the Legion needed was to lose Brainy altogether, at a time when his abilities were most needed. Hopefully he wouldn't be out of commission long.

"What can I do for you?"

"I could use a glass of water," Brainy said.

"Coming right up." Bouncing Boy went to the nearest dispenser . . . but he never made it.

He collapsed so suddenly that nobody had time to react before he went down.

"Chuck!" Phantom Girl said, rushing to see if he was okay.

He wasn't.

"Get a floater!" she called out. "We've got another one!"

LLLLLLLLLL

Meanwhile, out in space, the Substitute team was finishing their repairs, as instructed by Shrinking Violet's engineer friend.

"That should do it!" Infectious Lass said. "We're good!"

"I hope so," said Porcupine Pete, "because something just showed up on the radar heading straight for us . . ."

_(Author's note: Dun dun duuuuuuuunnnn! I know, I'm evil for making you wait so long and then leaving you on a cliffhanger. Rest assured that the next chapter will be coming soon. Well, relatively soon. In 2009, anyway.)_


	4. When It Rains

CHAPTER 4: WHEN IT RAINS . . .

(_Author's note: So glad to see all the great reviews! I make a point of personally replying to all signed reviews. To piegirl, TheEclipse, and Devilbunny: Thanks for reviewing!)_

"Incoming!"

The huge craft was headed straight for the substitute Legionnaires' ship, and there was no stopping it. There wasn't even any slowing it down. All they could do was try to get out of the way before they were crushed or blown up.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die!"

"We're doomed!"

"Somebody call the Legion for help!"

"Oh, for _plarg_'s sake!" Infectious Lass rolled her eyes. "We **are **the Legion! Stop panicking and do something!"

"Do what?" Color Kid was crouched under his seat with his arms over his head, waiting for the end to come.

In the end, it was Stone Boy who saved the day. He got out of his seat and pushed the button that activated the shielding (after first pushing the button that activated the viewscreen wipers). He then took hold of the control stick and wrenched it to the left as hard as he could. The ship pivoted like a spinning top and just barely missed being slammed by the intruder.

Porcupine Pete poked his head up. "Are they gone?"

"Uh, no."

"Can we fire the phasers?"

"Let's see . . . we have enough power to fire off one shot," said Color Kid, "but if we do, we'll have to drop the shields to do it."

"We'll have to make it count, then."

The substitute Legionnaires tried to steer into position to fire their one phaser blast at the intruder, but it wasn't easy when the pilot was hyperventilating and most of the rest of the crew were in a state of panic, convinced that they were about to get clobbered by the enemy before help could arrive.

But to their surprise, the ship scored a direct hit on the intruder and actually did some damage to it, enough to knock out its shields and part of its sensor array. "Whoa."

"What do we do now?" asked Color Kid.

Pete checked the readouts. "We have enough power to restore the shields, but not fire another shot."

"Well, put the shields up, then! Just in case they take another shot at us."

"Sure thing!" With that, he went to the control panel, only to stare down at it in confusion. "Uh, which button is it again?"

Stone Boy sighed and pressed it for him.

Just then the viewscreen crackled to life. "Message coming through," said Chlorophyll Kid.

"This is Farz Reepek of the Intergalactic Mechalon Patrol. You have invaded our air space and initiated hostilities, and you must die."

"WHAT?" Pete exclaimed. "We're not even in your air space!"

"All air space is ours. We own the universe, and you are not welcome. Prepare to be destroyed."

LLLLLLLLLL

The SOS came into Legion HQ right about the time that Bouncing Boy was waking up, on a makeshift cot in the only available space in the infirmary.

"What happened?" he asked. He started to get up, but Triplicate Girl rushed over and helped him back into bed.

"Don't try to get up yet. You just lie there and rest, okay? I'm here to help you."

"I . . . I'm . . . what's happening to me?"

"You're sick, Chuck."

"I'm sick? But I *can't* be sick! I've got too much to do here to just lie around . . ." That was as far as he got before he flopped back onto the bed and collapsed again. Triplicate Girl covered him up and went to see what was happening with Saturn Girl.

It wasn't pretty. The worst of the symptoms were flaring up, and on top of hat, she was discovering the joys of morning sickness—at four o'clock in the afternoon.

"Urgh," she groaned. "When does this go away?"

"In two or three months, usually," Trip said. "Sometimes longer."

"Lovely. So not only can't I take any pain medication, but I'm losing every meal I eat? Wonderful." She sat up and looked at Trip. "What's happening out there?"

"Don't worry about it right now, Imra. We're taking care of it."

"We? Who's we? Who's in charge right now?"

"Um . . . right now, I think it's Phantom Girl. There's not too many of us left—"

The speaker system embedded in the wall suddenly crackled to life. "If anyone's still there, we're in trouble! Send whoever's able to these coordinates."

"Who's that?" Saturn Girl asked.

Triplicate Girl looked a bit embarrassed. "We've had to send the Subs out on patrol. I guess they ran into something they couldn't handle."

"Do we have anyone to help them?"

"I think there's one reserve team in the hangar. I'll call them right now."

She sat down at the monitor and opened a comm channel to the team standing by in the hangar. "You guys read that last message?"

"_Receiving coordinates now," _Sun Boy said. _"We're on our way."_

"Keep us informed."

"_Will do. Reserve Team One out."_

"That sounds promising," Saturn Girl said. "Unless there's a major interstellar war or something, we're covered. Oh, grife, my head . . ."

"You'd better lie down for now," Triplicate Girl said. "There's a very good chance we may be calling the UP Medical Forces any time now, and if we do, I'll make sure someone finds something safe to give you."

"Thanks. How's Garth doing?"

"He's being a pain, as usual."

"I wish I could at least talk to him."

"Maybe when things aren't quite so busy, we could set up a room-to-room connection so the two of you can talk. But right now, we're running in six directions at once. Do you think you can hang on for a few hours?"

"You think it might be that long?"

"You don't want to know the level of crazy we've got going on out there. Let me go check on a few things, and I'll come back and see if I can do that for you."

"That would be great. Thanks so much." Saturn Girl lay back with a beatific smile on her face, thinking only of her husband-to-be and the father of her child. Maybe she wouldn't wait till they were face to face to tell him. The sooner, the better.

LLLLLLLLLL

Aboard th UP Cruiser _Atlantis_, Engineering Supervisor James W. Rigby was thinking about his friend Salu, and wondering what kind of trouble she'd gotten herself into now. He'd known her for years, and she was always the type to, without meaning to, find herself in the middle of a catastrophe. But she was smart enough to always know how to get herself out.

He wished he could just zap himself across the solar system and check on her personally, but the _Atlantis_ was too far away to reach Earth in less than two days, even at maximum speed, and besides which he doubted the captain would agree to make such a massive diversion from course based solely on the hunches of a junior officer who wasn't even allowed to use the Officers' Head.

He should call her, though, once his shift was done. He hoped those friends of hers were able to get their ship up and running on his instructions. Maybe what he should do was run a scan to see if any disabled ships were in the area . . .

Just as he was about to sneak off to a terminal to perform the scan, he saw Chief Engineer Mbatu coming towards him.

"Where do you think you're going, Rigby?"

"Um . . . nowhere, sir." Mbatu was an intimidating man, who resembled the ancient African chiefs from whom he claimed to be directly descended. Rigby always had the feeling the chief engineer was about to order him thrown to the crocodiles.

"Good. We've just received an emergency call from inside the orbit of Neptune. We'll need maximum warp to get there in time. You know what to do."

"Yes, sir." Rigby took his place by the massive generator, wondering what this big emergency could be. Probably nothing.

On the other hand, Neptune was closer to Earth than they were right now, so maybe he could manage to get that signal through . . .

LLLLLLLLLL

For all its size and power, the mighty starship nevertheless arrived several minutes after the relatively tiny Legion Reserve ship.

Both of them were in for a nasty surprise.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" the captain of the _Atlantis_ asked the Legion.

"What is that thing?" Dawnstar gaped at the huge, hulking, and somehow nasty-looking craft that confronted them.

The viewscreen came to life. "This is Farz Reepek of the Intergalactic Mechalon Patrol. You have been warned. Now you will be destroyed."


	5. We're In Trouble Now

CHAPTER 5: WE'RE IN TROUBLE NOW

(Author's note: sorry to be so late with this. Never attempt more than two writing months in a row and expect to keep your sanity. The next chapter after this will be the stirring conclusion! Hopefully it will be up before Christmas. Or Easter.)

_

* * *

_

_Legion Log 1179855, Porcupine Pete recording._

_Our excitement at being called up to fill in for the regular Legion, who are . . . unavailable . . . has given way to utter panic as we realized just what we're up against. Out of nowhere, a massive warship appeared and fired on us. We were able to defend ourselves, but without repair to the shields and weapons, we can't hold out for very long._

_Luckily, a Legion Reserve team has arrived to back us up, as has the U. P. C. _Atlantis_, but I fear that even a starship might not be enough to stop this enemy. We need heavy-duty backup and we need it now._

LLLLLLLLLL

Things were not looking good right now. In fact, it wouldn't have been possible for them to get any worse. Then again, they could always get worse, but it was probably better not to think about it, especially in the middle of a serious crisis.

Several serious crises, actually. There was the alien warship threatening to destroy everyone. There was the virus, which was still spreading throughout the city. And in the absence of the Legion, the Fatal Five were on the loose.

Or, rather, the Fatal **Four**. What none of the currently active Legion members knew was that the Empress was suffering from the virus herself, and not very happy about it. She was even less happy about being left alone, without so much as a bowl of soup.

She cursed the Legion, the virus, her own teammates, and anyone else she could think of, until her throat became so irritated that she actually lost her voice. She wanted to kill someone with her bare hands, but there was nobody around to hurt, let alone kill. All she could do was lie there and suffer while the rest of her team were out taking care of business.

She had never felt so helpless in her life.

LLLLLLLLLLL

As for the Legion themselves, they were trying to put together what was left of their roster, which was now just one problem in a long list of crises that had hit all at once.

Saturn Girl, though she wasn't supposed to be out of bed, was doing what she could to reassure her teammates and relieve their suffering. There was no cure for the virus, but she hoped to find a treatment that would help them. She looked at the data again, making sure that she had recorded all the necessary information and saved it in all the right places. She didn't normally do things like this; high-tech solutions were Brainy's domain, but Brainy was . . . not exactly up for it right now.

But strictly speaking, neither was she.

She swallowed down another round of nausea and started to gather up all the samples to be destroyed, when she noticed something in one of the sample containers. Sample number 8C was different from the others. She put it under the microscope for a better look.

According to the label on the test tube, the sample was from Clark. Brainy had taken a few samples of his blood before he'd left, in order to study Kryptonian physiology and immunity. The virus in this blood sample was all but eradicated after only a few minutes.

Could this be what she was looking for? She hoped so, for everyone's sake. Otherwise, all was lost . . .

LLLLLLLLLLLL

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Saturn Girl! She's supposed to be here!" Lightning Lad gestured towards the empty bed. "Doesn't anyone know where she is?"

"She can't have gone far."

"What is she doing? She knows she's not supposed to be up!"

"Strictly speaking, neither are you." Triplicate Girl was practically holding him up. He was so woozy from the fever that he couldn't even stand up straight. "But if you insist, then we'll go find her, wherever she is. I hope she's not too stressed, in her condition-"

"What condition?" he asked.

She realized that he hadn't been told about Saturn Girl's pregnancy. "Her illness, I mean."

"Is it bad?"

"Last I saw, she was pretty bad. But I'm sure she's okay," she added hastily.

"I don't want to take any chances," Lightning Lad said, and began checking the sensor logs for her. This wasn't easy, considering that he had to keep blinking to clear his vision. Then he spotted her on a security cam, coming out of the bio lab.

"What's she doing?" he asked. "What's that she's carrying?"

"It looks like some kind of biological sample, but I can't be sure about that." As they watched, Saturn Girl went to the secondary lab and set up a tray of petri dishes.

"What is that?" said Bouncing Boy, who had gotten up to get a drink of water.

"I think it's some kind of experiment," said Cosmic Boy, who was coughing and sneezing up a storm. "I thought she was sick."

"Look who's talking," said Lightning Lad. "Cos, go back to bed."

"Soon as you do."

"Okay, **everyone** back to bed," said Phantom Girl. "Now!"

Everyone looked at her, but she wouldn't back down. She stared them down until finally they retreated to their beds, promising to stay put. With that out of the way, she went in search of Saturn Girl.

She found her in the main lab, stirring up a batch of blood samples. "What are you doing here, Imra? You should be resting."

"It's Clark's blood," she said. She coughed a couple of times and then continued. "It's fight-fighting the infection . . . we have to get it to everyone . . ."

"You let me handle that," Phantom Girl said. "I'll help you to bed -"

"Not . . . not yet . . . have to . . ."

"C'mon, you can't push yourself too much longer, Imra. It's not good for you or your baby -"

"Babies," Saturn Girl corrected her.

"Twins? Are you sure?"

"I just know."

"Okay, well, come on. I'll take over here as soon as you're settled. Okay?"

"Okay."

When she was sure that everyone was safely tucked in and resting comfortably, Phantom Girl went back to the lab to take a closer look at the samples. She put them through the computer analyzer to see if they could be reproduced.

To her delight, they could. She got right to work on it, unaware that all too soon, she would be needing the treatment herself.

LLLLLLLLLLLLL

The alien cruiser turned towards its main prey and tried to fire all batteries, but the Legion ship's shields were holding. For now, anyway.

But things were looking better now that they had the _Atlantis _backing them up. The starship fired a warning shot across the alien ship's bow, causing them to turn and retreat to safety out of range.

The Substitute Legionnaires watched this development and weren't sure what to do.

"Are they really . . . going away?" asked Infectious Lass.

"Looks like it," said Color Kid.

"Yee-hah! We really showed those lousy space slugs!" Porcupine Pete pumped his fist in the air. "They won't be bothering **us **any -"

Suddenly the alien cruiser returned - leading about a hundred other ships, all even bigger and more heavily armed than the first.

"Oh, boy. This is not good."

"Are you kidding?" Stone Boy looked out at the alien armada. "This is the end of the universe."

_

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__Final chapter coming soon!_


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